Mycobacterial interspersed repetitive units variable number tandem repeat (MIRU-VNTR) typing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) isolates, based on 24 loci, is still widely used as the standard for routine molecular surveillance of tuberculosis (TB). QIAxcel system is proposed as an affordable tool that could replace conventional gel electrophoresis and provide high concordance with the reference methods regarding MIRU-VNTR typing of MTBC. We aimed to evaluate the QIAxcel accuracy for allele calling of MIRU-VNTR loci in two regional reference laboratories. A total of 173 DNA were used for the study. Results obtained with QIAxcel were compared to the reference results obtained with an ABI 3730 DNA analyzer. In Albania, the overall agreement with the reference method was 97.92%. A complete agreement result was obtained for 17 loci. In Tunisia, the overall agreement with the reference method was 98.95%. A complete agreement result was obtained for 17 loci. Overall agreement in both centers was 98.43%. In our opinion, use of QIAxcel technology has the potential to be reliable, given an optimized algorithm. Inaccuracies in sizing of long fragments should be solved, especially regarding locus 4052.
Keywords: MIRU-VNTR typing; molecular surveillance; tuberculosis.